Outshine The Silent Moon
by Eroskigal
Summary: Nakamori Aoko Kaguya, a girl with strangely familiar dreams, had heard the news of the thief in her village, one with ears like a rabbit who reminds her of the Moon Rabbit of legend. He one day appears to her, claiming he will steal the very moon out of the sky on her seventeenth birthday, if she can't stop him. But why does he seem so familiar? Folktale!AU
1. Page 1: Bamboo Cutter

Based on the folktales "Princess Kaguya" and "The Rabbit on the Moon." 

* * *

Page 1 ~ Bamboo Cutter

 _A long time ago in ancient Japan, a house stood in the middle of a bamboo forest. Residing in that house was an unmarried man, who would often venture out into the forest to cut bamboo and sell it on the market for a living. Nakamori Ginzou was his name. He was known by the other villagers to be a bit hot-tempered, but respectable. Although, little did everyone know just how lonely he was. His wife had passed away young and he hadn't felt the need to remarry. It was just him, his house, and his bamboo. Nothing else. At least, not until that one fateful day..._

There wasn't anything special about the beginning, it was just your average sunny day. Nakamori was out and about, chopping up bamboo as usual. However, As he watched the bamboo tree fall to the ground, a bright glow caught his eye. "What the..."

He bent down to the height of the bamboo stump of the tree that just fell, and what he saw before him was a small and very beautiful goddess-like doll child, wearing a royal blue kimono. Gently, he picked her up and held her in his hands. "A gift from Heaven?"

He knew how lonely he was, and he figured that Heaven might have finally given him the child he had always wished for. It was then that another glow started to envelope the doll-like child, and transformed her into a normal little girl, no more than five years old. She was fast asleep, and she seemed to be clutching something in her hand. It was a blue sapphire with unknown origins.

It was then and there that he made the vow to protect her always, and even still, he would never forget the day when she became Nakamori Aoko Kaguya. That is where our story begins...

* * *

A lone girl, not even a decade old, stood at the front of the palace by the fountain. She wasn't waiting for anyone in particular, she was just bored and had no one to play with. It was a pretty lonely place up there, with hardly any kids her age. All she could do was look at her reflection in the fountain water and watch as petals floated down from the nearby sakura trees.

What caught her eye next was the sight of a remarkably large sakura flower on a stem, purposely making itself a part of her line of vision. Holding that flower was a boy her age, with messy brown hair and big indigo eyes. His most notable feature was two rabbit ears coming up from his head.

"Hi." He greeted all chipper.

Surprised, although happy, she smiled. "Hello."

"Why are you just sitting there?" The rabbit boy asked, curious.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's just a good way to pass the time."

He tilted his head. "Really? Look's boring."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

He changed the subject from there. "Hey, aren't you the princess?"

She nodded. "Yeah, and who are you?"

Smiling proudly, he bowed. "I am Tsuki no Usagi. The Rabbit on the Moon. But my real name's actually Kaito."

Gently, she smiled and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you Kaito. I am Princess Aoko Kaguya."

* * *

Her eyes opened up for the first time since night, and like that, her day began. Aoko, now sixteen, sat up in her futon and rested her head in her hand. "That dream again..."

She had been having the same dream every night since she had turned sixteen. She would always find it strange. It was strange, because it seemed too familiar to her for some reason. And that boy. That rabbit boy was a figure who always seemed to appear in these familiar dreams of hers. Her dreams were blurry, so she couldn't remember much about them, but he was always there. That strange but familiar boy. Moving her dreams aside, Aoko got ready for the day.

In order to help her father, she had started her own business in the market, where she would sell her paintings. She was unbelievably talented, and everyone in the village admired her artwork. She would mostly paint scenes of nature from her second floor balcony, but the scenes that she loved to paint the most were of nighttime scenes, especially ones that involved the moon. She didn't know why, but the moon was always able to put her at peace. It was serene enough to make her want to fall asleep, and sometimes, when she was struggling with something, she would come outside and watch the moon, and her mind would end up cleared.

The people in the village thought that she herself was especially beautiful, and young men would often ask her father for her hand in marriage, although he ended up rejecting all of them. Aoko felt that her heart already belonged to someone, but she could think of who that might be. Either way, she promised herself that she wouldn't marry anyone except for the person who held her heart.

As expected, her father had already gone to cut bamboo, seeing as the first floor was empty, so she proceeded out to the market to buy food. Their income was pretty good nowadays and they made enough to eat proper meals and occasionally buy luxury items.

It was funny, whenever she asked about her birth, her father always told her that she was found in a bamboo stem. Aoko thought it was just a joke he would tell when she was a kid, but she was older now, and he still didn't change his story. But that was ridiculous, no one was just born from bamboo, right?

Stepping out of the forest, Aoko made it to the market. There were stalls aligning the streets, and people were either buying or selling. Aoko loved how the market was always so lively and vibrant. Not to mention that people always sold the most interesting things. She even knew some of the sellers, like daughters of the Mouri and Koizumi families, as well as the daughter of the Toyama family from Osaka.

She walked down the streets looking at various items and it was tempting enough just to buy some of them, but she had to stay strong, because her goal was food. She internally kept trying to tell herself that, but she stopped as soon as she saw a single stand. The stand was just like all the others it seemed, but what really caught her eye was the stuffed rabbit on display.

It was cute and fuzzy, and it didn't really cost much at all. Well, even if she bought it, she would still have enough for food in the end. And so, Aoko went ahead and bought the stuffed rabbit, and her normal life went on, but little did she know, it would change real soon.


	2. Page 2: Immortality Stone

Page 2~ Immortality Stone

He didn't understand much about it. That big blue and green orb that kept staring back at him.

In his perspective, it was a fair size, although he knew the moon was much smaller. Still, he didn't understand what was so great about it. The Earth was home to millions of humans, the dominant species. Although he liked to maintain the appearance of a human, he himself would not be considered as such.

Kaito sighed as his rabbit ears twitched slightly. Being the legendary Rabbit on the Moon wasn't easy at times. His job was to create the elixir of immortality, as well as protect it from the greedy people of Earth, who fortunately, could not reach the moon. He remembered his life before he was taken up to the moon.

Back then, he hung in a crowd with three other animals. A fox who had a strange cowlick, a monkey who hailed from Osaka, and a crow who liked to confidently watch him from the shadows. That was creepy, he would admit.

Later on, a man came by and became friends with their little group, and later on, the man claimed he was hungry. The rest of the group had managed to find some things, but they weren't near filling enough. Finally, Kaito decided to sacrifice himself so that the man could have a proper meal. However, just before he jumped into the fire, the man stopped him. It was then that the man decided to bring him back to the moon and raise him as his own son.

And that's how he ended up there, but it was such a long time ago, Kaito was barely four years old. Even so, he was grateful for the wonderful life he had been given. If it weren't for that one day, everything would have been near perfect. "Ah, son."

Kaito turned to the familiar voice and smiled. "Hey, Oyaji."

Kaito's father was a man named Kuroba Toichi, better known to the people of Earth as The Man on the Moon. He was quite adept in using magic and even taught Kaito a thing or too. Although Kaito had to admit that the was getting really good at it, however, he didn't feel he would surpass his father anytime soon. "I need to speak with you."

Thinking it was something important, Kaito listened. "What is it?"

Getting, to the point, Toichi began. "It's about the elixir. The ingredients we've been using to make it have almost run out. As you know, we used to have an eternal supply, but it disappeared on _that_ day."

Yes, Kaito remembered it all too well, the day the event happened, and the day _she_ left. "Yeah, I know, but what does that have to do with me?"

His father smiled again after the short and depressing flashbacks. "I think it's about time you had a real adventure. Your mother and I have been talking, and we think you should go to Earth and retrieve the missing stone that used to help us with the elixir."

Kaito turned his head towards Earth as he took everything into account. "How do I do that?"

"Well you see, the stone disappeared on that day, so it's likely that wherever the stone is, _she_ will be there as well."

look of consideration overcame Kaito as he thought it over. "I see..."

After thinking it over carefully to himself, he smiled. "You know, that may not be such a bad idea."

Looking up, he smiled fully at Toichi. "And if it means being able to see her again, that would make everything worth it."

* * *

Aoko smiled at the little plush rabbit held in her hands. It was so cute that Aoko couldn't even resist buying it. It wasn't really big, rather, about the size of a boxed bakery product, but it was adorable nonetheless. Some may think it childish for a young lady her age to have such a thing, but she didn't care, and she loved it all the same.

She decided then and there that she would keep that rabbit as one of her precious treasures. Her 'precious treasures' where little things that she had collected, but only a select few could reach that status in her opinion. There was one other precious treasure that stood out to her, and that was a brilliant blue sapphire that she found when she was little. The funny thing was that she didn't actually remember finding it. Her father claimed that she had it with her when he found her in a bamboo stalk. That couldn't have possibly happened though, so she just assumed she found it while playing one day.

It was an amazing stone, however. She once held it up to the moonlight to see it sparkle, and this bright red glow came from inside. It was spectacularly beautiful, and Aoko had decided to keep it ever since. She wouldn't look at the light so much anymore, but she knew it was there, and she always kept it near her in case she wanted to see it again. Aside, from that Aoko's life went on like normal. She sold her paintings and her father sold his bamboo. It was just your average ordinary life.

Tonight, she was doing her best at painting a close-up of the moon, but it was a bit difficult, seeing as it was so far away. Despite that, it was coming along nicely. She did her best to capture the rabbit in her painting, along with the mortar, used to make the elixir of immortality, according to legend. Of course, she was planning on selling it once it was finished. That was what she did with all her works that she didn't want to keep for herself.

She had quite a few of those hanging in the hallway. Although, they weren't really paintings of nature or nighttime scenes, or anything like that. They were paintings of unusual places that Aoko had felt she'd seen before. One was a painting of a beautiful royal palace, aligned with sakura trees. Another was a fountain, also sitting next to some trees.

Others were of strange habitats that she could only see in her dreams. They were strange and a bit ethereal-looking, it seemed. Her talent truly seemed to have no bounds, even going a far as to surprise herself sometimes.

Deep down, she wanted something. Something that lied inside these paintings. But she didn't know the answer to the question she had been asking for ages. Why do little things like dreams or paintings seem so familiar to her? Was there something wrong with her? Or was it something else? Well, whatever the answer was, she could wait. She had no choice, other than to wait. For all her questions would be answered in due time.


End file.
